Newswise — WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 4, 2015) — Winner of the Best International Abstract Award, Jeffrey V. Rosenfeld, MD, MS, presented his research, The Development of a Wireless Multielectrode Cortical Prosthesis for Restoration of Vision in Blind Individuals.
Because many blind individuals will not be suitable for bionic retinal prostheses, and it is known that occipital visual cortex stimulation in a human can induce patterns of phosphenes and variable visual function, the researchers have developed a multi-electrode wireless tiled prosthetic cortical implant as an alternative to retinal implantation.
The development and testing of a wireless multielectrode cortical visual prosthesis is nearing completion. The first human implantation is planned for 2016. The surgical implantation procedure will be suitable for the general neurosurgeon.
A wireless ceramic “tile” (8x8x2.5mm) with 43x2.5mm platinum/iridium microelectrodes has been developed. The electrode implantation has been tested in the rat, sheep and macaque cortex. A pocket-sized vision processor has been developed using robotic vision transformative reality algorithms. These convert the photographic images from a small digital camera on a glasses frame into patterns of pixels that represent the relevant shapes and contours in the environment and then convert these patterns to electrical waveforms transmitted wirelessly across the scalp and skull to the visual cortex via the electrodes.
The electrode tiles are functioning on the bench as predicted. The electrical parameters of stimulation of individual electrodes have been tested and refined in rat motor cortex. The histology of electrode insertion in sheep cortex has shown minimal hemorrhage and trauma.
The effects of electrical stimulation in the sheep cortex are being investigated. Implantation of the electrode tiles is being undertaken in macaque visual cortex to map phosphenes in normally seeing animals. The proposed surgical implantation technique in humans will be presented. The challenges of developing this bionic device for human implantation, the selection of candidates and the postoperative testing of the device and rehabilitation program will be described.
Disclosure: The author reported no conflicts of interest.
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Founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is a scientific and educational association with more than 9,000 members worldwide. The AANS is dedicated to advancing the specialty of neurological surgery in order to provide the highest quality of neurosurgical care to the public. Fellows of the AANS are board-certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, or the Mexican Council of Neurological Surgery, A.C. Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders that affect the spinal column, spinal cord, brain, nervous system and peripheral nerves.
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